Hay River, Northwest Territories

Hay River
Xátł'odehchee
Town
Motto: Hub of the North
Hay River
Coordinates: 60°49′59″N 115°46′40″W / 60.83306°N 115.77778°WCoordinates: 60°49′59″N 115°46′40″W / 60.83306°N 115.77778°W
Country Canada
Territory Northwest Territories
Region South Slave Region
Constituency Hay River North
Hay River South
Census division Region 5
Incorporated (town) 27 June 1963
Government
 • Mayor Andrew Cassidy
 • Town Manager David Steele
 • MLA Robert Bouchard (North)
 • MLA Jane Groenewegen (South)
Area[1]
 • Land 133.15 km2 (51.41 sq mi)
 • Population centre[2] 3.59 km2 (1.39 sq mi)
Elevation 165 m (541 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 3,606
 • Density 27.1/km2 (70/sq mi)
 • Population centre[2] 2,806
 • Population centre density 781.4/km2 (2,024/sq mi)
Time zone Mountain (MST) (UTC−7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC−6)
Canadian Postal code X0E 0R0 - 0R9/1G1 - 1G5
Area code(s) 867
Telephone exchange 874/5
- Living cost 127.5A
- Food price index 111.0B
Website www.hayriver.com
Sources:
Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[3]
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[4]
Canada Flight Supplement[5]
^A 2009 figure based on Edmonton = 100[6]
^B 2010 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[6]

Hay River (Xátł’odehchee /xátɬ’odɛhtʃʰe/),[4] known as "the Hub of the North,"[7] is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two sections, a new town 60°48′45″N 115°47′20″W / 60.81250°N 115.78889°W and an old town 60°51′13″N 115°44′19″W / 60.85361°N 115.73861°W with the Hay River/Merlyn Carter Airport between them. The town is in the South Slave Region, and along with Fort Smith is one of the two regional centres.[8]

History

Hay River on Great Slave Lake
Hay River connection to the Arctic Ocean

The area has been in use by First Nations, known as the Long Spear people, as far back as 7000 BC.[9]

According to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the first buildings were those of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1868 followed by a Roman Catholic Mission in 1869 and an Anglican Mission in 1894.[9]

However, according to the history of the area provided by the town, the first permanent settlement in the area of Hay River was established in what is now the Katl'odeeche First Nation or Hay River Reserve. This was sometime between 1892-93. This first settlement was established by Chief Chiatlo and a group of people by the building of log cabins and bringing dairy cows. This was followed in 1893 by the Anglican Mission, at the request of Chief Chiatlo in 1893 with the Roman Catholic Mission and the Hudson's Bay Company arriving later.[7]

A school, health centre and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police followed, and as part of the Canol Road project the United States Army Corps of Engineers built a runway on Vale Island. In the late 1940s the Government of Canada built a gravel road, now the Mackenzie Highway, from Grimshaw, Alberta to Hay River making it the first community in the NWT to be linked with southern Canada.[7]

In 1959, the Northern Transportation Company Limited located their main base in Hay River and over the years developed the facilities. Today the base is the major staging point for the annual sealift along the Mackenzie River, via Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk and the communities of the Arctic Ocean, as far east as Taloyoak, Nunavut and west to Barrow, Alaska.[7][10]

By 1964, as part of the Pine Point Mine development, the Mackenzie Northern Railway was constructed. The railway, through Canadian National Railway in Edmonton, makes Hay River the northernmost point in Canada, and all of North America, which is connected to the continental railway system.[7][10] The Alaska Railroad is located farther north but is orphaned from the network.

In 1978, Hay River along with, the now abandoned, Pine Point hosted the fifth Arctic Winter Games.

Services

The community has a full hospital, the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, a woman's shelter/transition house, a dental clinic and an ambulance service.[11][12] The RCMP detachment has eight members and the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre is located here.[11] There are two grocery stores in Hay River, including the Northern Store, branches of both the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Royal Bank of Canada and both TRU Hardware and Home Hardware.[11][12] There is also a museum detailing the history of Hay River and the Hudson's Bay Company in Old Town.

Airlines servicing Hay River include the locally based Buffalo Airways, who provide scheduled flights to Yellowknife as well as charter services and a courier service throughout the north.[13][14] First Air provides scheduled services to Yellowknife with connections elsewhere.[15] Northwestern Air Lease also offers scheduled service to Edmonton and Fort Smith. Other companies offering charter services in Hay River include Landa Air, Carter Air Services (fixed-wing aircraft), Denendeh Helicopters and Remote Helicopters.[16]

Religious services include a Catholic church, an Anglican/Grace United church, a Baptist church, a Pentecostal church, and a Community Fellowship within New Town. There is also a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall along the highway coming into town. On the Katl'odeeche First Nations Reserve there are a small Catholic church, and a larger Pentecostal church. There is also an Anglican church that was destroyed in the 2008 Hay River ice breakup. The religious diversity in Hay River exceeds the outward appearance given by these services.

Education

The town hosts four schools, three of which are administered by South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC). The SSDEC is responsible for Harry Camsell K-3 School, Princess Alexandra Middle School, and Diamond Jenness Secondary School, while Ecole Boreal Francophone School is administered separately.[17] Harry Camsell is a primary school and serves students from kindergarten to Grade 3.[18] Princess Alexandra, named for and opened by Princess Alexandra in 1967,[19] is a middle school and serves the Grade 4 to the Grade 7.[20] Ecole Boreale is a francophone school that was opened in 2005 and works with students of all grades. Diamond Jenness, named for scientist and anthropologist Diamond Jenness and opened in 1973,[21] is the high school and serves Grade 8 to Grade 12.[22] The town also supports a Community Learning Centre and a Career Centre.[11]

Media and communications

Church in Hay River
Dog sledding at the Hay River Winter Carnival

CKHR-FM 107.3 is a community radio station in Hay River, and the only station in Hay River to maintain local studios; it is owned and operated by the Hay River Community Service Society. Other radio stations in Hay River are repeaters of stations based in Yellowknife: CBDJ-FM (93.7), broadcasting CBC Radio One from CFYK; CJCD-FM-1 (100.1), rebroadcasting CJCD-FM; and CHRR-FM (101.9) a community radio station aimed at First Nations people, rebroadcasting CKLB-FM.[16]

The Hay River Community Service Society also controls television broadcasting and it is paid for through property taxes, at a rate of $36 per household per year.[23] Channels 2-5, 7, and 8-13 rebroadcast Canadian and US channels in analog format from towers atop the Mackenzie Place highrise. Transmitter powers range from 9W to 2.545 kW. Channels include CIHC-TV channel 5, a community channel; CH4435 channel 8, rebroadcasting Radio-Canada through CBFT Montreal; and CH4160 channel 12, repeating the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network; among other channels. The local CBC-owned CBC North television repeater, CBEBT-1 channel 7, closed on 31 July 2012;[24] however, the Hay River Community Service Society announced that it acquired the transmitter, which they intended to use for CBC Television service.[23]

The Hub is a weekly newspaper published by Northern News Services. The editor is Sarah Ladik.[25] Besides Hay River, the paper is available in Yellowknife, Enterprise, Fort Smith, Inuvik, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution and Grande Prairie.[26]

Internet services are provided by SSI Micro and Bell Sympatico, land based telephone by Northwestel and cell phones by NMI Mobility.[12][16]

Climate

Hay River has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with summer lasting for about three months. Although winter temperatures are usually below freezing, every month of the year has seen temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F). Rainfall, which can occur throughout the year, averages 217.4 mm (8.56 in) and snowfall 138.9 cm (54.69 in). From December to January on average there are 71.8 days when the wind chill is below −30, which indicates that frostbite may occur within 10 – 30 minutes.[27][28]

Climate data for Hay River/Merlyn Carter Airport
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high humidex 10.6 12.9 14.6 25.8 31.1 35.1 44.6 39.8 32.2 25.4 12.8 11.2 44.6
Record high °C (°F) 10.7
(51.3)		 13.9
(57)		 15.6
(60.1)		 26.0
(78.8)		 33.3
(91.9)		 34.0
(93.2)		 35.0
(95)		 36.7
(98.1)		 30.0
(86)		 25.4
(77.7)		 15.0
(59)		 12.2
(54)		 36.7
(98.1)
Average high °C (°F) −17.3
(0.9)		 −14.2
(6.4)		 −7.8
(18)		 2.9
(37.2)		 10.7
(51.3)		 18.0
(64.4)		 21.2
(70.2)		 19.6
(67.3)		 13.2
(55.8)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −7.7
(18.1)		 −14.4
(6.1)		 2.4
(36.3)
Daily mean °C (°F) −21.8
(−7.2)		 −19.6
(−3.3)		 −13.8
(7.2)		 −2.7
(27.1)		 5.4
(41.7)		 12.5
(54.5)		 16.1
(61)		 14.6
(58.3)		 8.7
(47.7)		 0.5
(32.9)		 −11.6
(11.1)		 −18.8
(−1.8)		 −2.5
(27.5)
Average low °C (°F) −26.2
(−15.2)		 −24.9
(−12.8)		 −19.8
(−3.6)		 −8.1
(17.4)		 0.0
(32)		 7.0
(44.6)		 10.9
(51.6)		 9.5
(49.1)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −3.2
(26.2)		 −15.4
(4.3)		 −23.1
(−9.6)		 −7.4
(18.7)
Record low °C (°F) −47.8
(−54)		 −48.3
(−54.9)		 −44.4
(−47.9)		 −38.9
(−38)		 −20.5
(−4.9)		 −5.6
(21.9)		 0.7
(33.3)		 −1.1
(30)		 −11.7
(10.9)		 −24.3
(−11.7)		 −40.8
(−41.4)		 −47.2
(−53)		 −48.3
(−54.9)
Record low wind chill −58.7 −60.4 −54.9 −47.7 −26.6 −7.4 0.0 0.0 −17.1 −34.3 −54.4 −55.8 −60.4
Average precipitation mm (inches) 16.4
(0.646)		 14.3
(0.563)		 14.4
(0.567)		 12.6
(0.496)		 23.3
(0.917)		 31.9
(1.256)		 43.0
(1.693)		 58.7
(2.311)		 44.6
(1.756)		 35.7
(1.406)		 24.8
(0.976)		 16.8
(0.661)		 336.4
(13.244)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.1
(0.004)		 0.2
(0.008)		 0.2
(0.008)		 4.3
(0.169)		 18.0
(0.709)		 31.9
(1.256)		 43.0
(1.693)		 58.7
(2.311)		 43.0
(1.693)		 16.8
(0.661)		 0.9
(0.035)		 0.3
(0.012)		 217.4
(8.559)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 19.2
(7.56)		 16.9
(6.65)		 16.4
(6.46)		 8.7
(3.43)		 5.2
(2.05)		 0.1
(0.04)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 1.5
(0.59)		 19.9
(7.83)		 30.4
(11.97)		 20.7
(8.15)		 138.9
(54.69)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 11.3 9.7 8.5 5.0 8.0 8.8 9.9 11.3 12.2 12.6 14.2 11.4 122.8
Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 0.1 0.2 0.2 2.0 6.7 8.8 9.9 11.3 11.9 6.2 1.0 0.6 58.9
Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 12.0 10.1 8.7 3.7 1.8 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.8 8.1 14.5 12.4 72.2
Average relative humidity (%) 69.2 66.3 61.3 60.2 55.0 54.4 57.6 59.9 62.5 70.6 78.0 73.7 64.0
Source: Environment Canada Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010[28]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19963,793—    
19973,781−0.3%
19983,769−0.3%
19993,782+0.3%
20003,756−0.7%
20013,725−0.8%
20023,678−1.3%
20033,682+0.1%
20043,830+4.0%
20053,844+0.4%
20063,777−1.7%
20073,831+1.4%
20083,778−1.4%
20093,725−1.4%
20103,812+2.3%
20113,737−2.0%
20123,601−3.6%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001-2012)[6]

In the 2011 Census Hay River had a population of 3,606, a decrease of 1.2% from the 2006 Census.[1] The aboriginal population in Hay River is 1,600, up from 1,565 at the 2001 Census, and is made up of First Nations, Métis people and Inuit.[29] The main languages in the town are South Slavey, Chipewyan, Michif and English.[9] In 2009 the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 3,601 with an average yearly growth rate of 0.0% from 2001.[6]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hay River, T Northwest Territories (Census subdivision)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hay River Northwest Territories (Population centre)
  3. ↑ "NWT Communities - Hay River". Government of the Northwest Territories: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre - official names
  5. ↑ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 24 July 2014 to 0901Z 18 September 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Hay River - Statistical Profile at the GNWT
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Hay River history
  8. ↑ MACA Regions
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Hay River profile". Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 NTCL services
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Infrastructure profile
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Northwestel
  13. ↑ Buffalo Airways passenger services
  14. ↑ Buffalo Airways courier service
  15. ↑ First Air
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Hay River profile
  17. ↑ South Slave Divisional Education Council
  18. ↑ Harry Camsell School
  19. ↑ Princess Alexandra School - About our school
  20. ↑ Princess Alexandra School
  21. ↑ Diamond Jenness School - About our school
  22. ↑ Diamond Jenness School
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 CACTUS press release: "Oct. 9th Deadline for Communities to Salvage CBC TV Equipment", October 1, 2012.
  24. ↑ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2012-384, July 17, 2012.
  25. ↑ The Hub Newspaper
  26. ↑ The Hub
  27. ↑ Wind Chill Hazards and Risk of Frostbite
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Hay River A" (CSV (3069 KB)). Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. Climate ID: 2202400. Retrieved 2014-01-09.
  29. ↑ 2006 Canada Census - Aboriginal profile

Further reading

External links

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